Types of Grammar
With its Latin influence dating back to the early 17th century, ‘traditional’ grammar is widely known throughout the English-speaking world as the description of parts of speech and sentence structure (Rennie, 2014). Meanwhile, functional grammar presents a particular interest on how language functions in various contexts, placing importance on language choices, and analysis of extended passages of text (Derewianka, 2012).
Traditional grammar:
- Taught in discrete, decontextualised ways
- Deals only with the written aspects, where grammar is taught as an academic exercise in labeling parts of speech and learning rules
- Does not improve students’ writing skills*
*Even studies dating back to 1963 shows the disadvantages of using traditional grammar due to its displacing qualities. It states,
‘...teaching of formal grammar has a negligible …, even a harmful effect on the improvement of writing' (Derewianka, 2012).
Professor Michael Halliday (2012), a British-born Australian linguist, developed the Systemic Functional Linguistic model (SFL) of language. Halliday did not see language as a simple collection of rules and labels for grammatical categories as with traditional grammar but saw language as 'a resource for making meaning', and by doing so we ‘interactively shape and interpret the world and ourselves’ (Derewianka, 2012).
Functional grammar:
Functional grammar:
- Sees an intimate relationship between context and the language use
- Describes how spoken language differs from written language and is concerned with how language has evolved to allow us to adapt and live our lives. This is a critical aspect in a student’s learning where they move from the oral language of home and schoolyard to the more complicated language in academic contexts
Writing is functional.
Depending on the communicative purpose for writing, a writer can select a particular text type or genre to suit their purpose. Writing an informational report requires the use of a different text type when compared to writing a poem. Different forms of text will vary in overall structure and the grammatical features it contains, and meaning will be acquired at different levels of the text (Fellowes, 2007).
Knowledge of grammar allows the writer to more confidently and adeptly add, delete, substitute or combine words and clauses in sentence as a text is constructed with intention. Functional grammar focuses on the meaning of the text as a whole and works its way down to deconstruct the meanings of sentences and clauses and so on (Fellowes, 2007). Traditional aspect of grammar focuses on the individual words to make meaning and works its way up. As such, traditional grammar is seen as a isolated and decontextualised in its narrow approach to make meaning. If students are unable to grasp the meaning of a text, knowing the individual aspects becomes useless. This is depicted in the diagram below.
Depending on the communicative purpose for writing, a writer can select a particular text type or genre to suit their purpose. Writing an informational report requires the use of a different text type when compared to writing a poem. Different forms of text will vary in overall structure and the grammatical features it contains, and meaning will be acquired at different levels of the text (Fellowes, 2007).
Knowledge of grammar allows the writer to more confidently and adeptly add, delete, substitute or combine words and clauses in sentence as a text is constructed with intention. Functional grammar focuses on the meaning of the text as a whole and works its way down to deconstruct the meanings of sentences and clauses and so on (Fellowes, 2007). Traditional aspect of grammar focuses on the individual words to make meaning and works its way up. As such, traditional grammar is seen as a isolated and decontextualised in its narrow approach to make meaning. If students are unable to grasp the meaning of a text, knowing the individual aspects becomes useless. This is depicted in the diagram below.
Diagram sourced from: lecture notes EDF5712
Language in Context
Diagram sourced from: Derewianka (2012)
A simplified view of Halliday’s context and the language system as represented by his functional grammar approach is seen above. The inner circle depicts the language system overlapping the outer circle that is context. This highlights the importance of teaching and learning language in context. Language differs according to context, therefore language must be adapted to suit the particular context. Scientific language used in writing reports and mathematical language used in maths differ in use and meaning. Grammar, as part of the language system, should be taught in context rather than as a set of discrete skills (Derewianka, 2012).
The 3 ranks of Functional grammar
Diagram sourced from: lecture notes EDF5712
Functional grammar has 3 ranks as indicated by the above diagram. The clause is the basic unit of meaning which provides information about who is taking part (participants), what is happening (process), surroundings circumstances (when, where, how and why?).